Maple Leafs at Panthers preview

MAPLE LEAFS (39-20-6) at PANTHERS (28-25-6)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, TSN4, NHL.TV

The Panthers, who are 9-3-0 in their past 12 games, are seven points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
The Maple Leafs are playing for the second straight night; they lost 4-3 in a shootout against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. They are 5--0-1 in their past six games and are second in the Atlantic Division, five points behind the first-place Lightning, and two points ahead of the third-place Boston Bruins.

Players to watch

Panthers forward Evgenii Dadonov had his first NHL hat trick in a 6-5 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. He has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in his past seven games.
Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner had a goal and an assist against the Lightning and has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his last three games.

They said it

"The pressure's on us. Management has kind of said, 'Listen, we think this is a team that can get us [to the Stanley Cup Playoffs].' Now it's on us. We're in a pretty good spot. It's going to be interesting down the stretch." -- Panthers forward Derek MacKenzie
"It's nice when that time passes. I've learned over the years not to worry about it too much and just go day by day and not really think about it. I'm sure some guys are relieved and just happy that it's over with and we can focus on the rest of the year now." -- Maple Leafs forward Tyler Bozak, on the passing of the NHL Trade Deadline at 3 p.m. ET on Monday

Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Vincent Trocheck -- Radim Vrbata
Jamie McGinn -- Jared McCann -- Maxim Mamin
Micheal Haley -- Derek MacKenzie -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
MacKenzie Weegar -- Alexander Petrovic
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched:Connor Brickley, Ian McCoshen
Injured: Denis Malgin (lower body), Frank Vatrano (lower body)

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Zach Hyman -- Tomas Plekanec -- William Nylander
Patrick Marleau -- Nazem Kadri -- Mitchell Marner
James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Connor Brown
Leo Komarov -- Dominic Moore -- Kasperi Kapanen
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner -- Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott -- Connor Carrick
Curtis McElhinney
Frederik Andersen
Scratched:Josh Leivo, Romak Polak,Matt Martin
Injured:Auston Matthews (shoulder)

Status report

Panthers coach Bob Boughner said Malgin will miss a couple weeks after sustaining a lower-body injury against the Penguins. He also said Vatrano is expected to make his Panthers debut next week.

Stat pack

Van Riemsdyk has six points (three goals, three assists) during a six-game point streak. ... Barkov has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in his past 11 games.